Quokka

Setonix brachyurus

Blamed on foxes

IUCN Status: Vulnerable

EPBC Threat Rating: N/A

IUCN Claim: “ Predation by red foxes and possibly feral cats has led to a past decline of mainland populations. Fox control has led to an increase in numbers in some areas.’”

Studies in support

Foxes hunt quokkas (Hayward et al. 2005; Sinclair & Hyder 2009). Hayward et al. (2007) associated quokka presence with higher poison-baiting intensity. Hayward (2002) described a spatial correlation between quokka extirpation and fox establishment, but no analysis was provided.

Studies not in support

No studies

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

There are no studies evidencing a negative association between foxes and quokka populations that include data analysis. Poison-baiting is not a reliable proxy of fox abundance.

Evidence linking Setonix brachyurus to foxes. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Setonix brachyurus and foxes. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that foxes contribute to the decline of Setonix brachyurus, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance.
Evidence linking Setonix brachyurus to foxes. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Setonix brachyurus and foxes. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that foxes contribute to the decline of Setonix brachyurus, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance.

References

Hayward, M. 2002. The ecology of the Quokka (Setonix brachyurus) (Macropodidae: Marsupialia) in the northern jarrah forest of Australia. University of New South Wales.

Hayward, Matt W., et al. “Mortality and survivorship of the quokka (Setonix brachyurus)(Macropodidae: Marsupialia) in the northern jarrah forest of Western Australia.” Wildlife Research 32.8 (2005): 715-722

Hayward, Matt W., et al. “Predicting the occurrence of the quokka, Setonix brachyurus (Macropodidae: Marsupialia), in Western Australia’s northern jarrah forest.” Wildlife Research 34.3 (2007): 194-199

Sinclair, E. A. and Hyder, B. M. 2009. Surviving quokka (Setonix brachyurus) population on the Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia. . Australian Mammalogy 31: 67-69.

Wallach et al. 2023 In Submission